Somalia Targets US$ 1 Billion For 2020 Humanitarian Action Plan

[Deeq A.]

Somalia is targeting to raise US$ 1 billion to provide life-saving assistance and livelihood support to 3 million people.

The Somali government through the ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is partnering with the United Nations and humanitarian partners in the 2020 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan which was launched on Wednesday in Mogadishu.

The action plan targets 1.7 million people displaced by conflict, insecurity, forced evictions, droughts and floods.

Severe acute malnutrition rates among children are high with some areas having Global Acute Malnutrition rates of over 20 per cent.

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said the UN and its partners are working to ensure that emergency and development assistance complement each other in line with the Government development plan in order to achieve long-term recovery and resilience,”

The plan aims to provide food assistance monthly to 2.1 million people, support access to education for more than 300,000 children, provide health assistance to 2.5 million people, and deliver safe water to more than 1.2 million people.

According to the Plan, more than half of Somalia’s population lives below the poverty line. Among poor agro-pastoral, marginalized and displaced communities, huge food and nutrition gaps exist

The Humanitarian Response Plan focuses on four core objectives: which are reducing the prevalence of acute malnutrition and health needs; meeting the basic needs of people across 74 districts; strengthening protection and right to safety and enhancing the capacity of IDPs to cope with significant shocks.

Somalia Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Hamza Saeed Hamza said the government is already working on efforts to address the crisis.

“The response plan complements ongoing Government efforts to address the humanitarian and livelihood crises in the country,” the minister said.

The government is fully committed to working with all humanitarian agencies operating in the country to implement the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan,”

BY ODINDO AYIEKO